Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and Prospects
Humans require more than 20 mineral elements for healthy body function. Calcium (Ca), one of the essential macromineral, is required in relatively large quantities in the diet for maintaining a sound overall health. Young children, pregnant and nursing women in marginalized and poorest regions of th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2017.01311/full |
| _version_ | 1811192352339918848 |
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| author | Swati Puranik Jason Kam Pranav P. Sahu Rama Yadav Rakesh K. Srivastava Henry Ojulong Rattan Yadav |
| author_facet | Swati Puranik Jason Kam Pranav P. Sahu Rama Yadav Rakesh K. Srivastava Henry Ojulong Rattan Yadav |
| author_sort | Swati Puranik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Humans require more than 20 mineral elements for healthy body function. Calcium (Ca), one of the essential macromineral, is required in relatively large quantities in the diet for maintaining a sound overall health. Young children, pregnant and nursing women in marginalized and poorest regions of the world, are at highest risk of Ca malnutrition. Elderly population is another group of people most commonly affected by Ca deficiency mainly in the form of osteoporosis and osteopenia. Improved dietary intake of Ca may be the most cost-effective way to meet such deficiencies. Finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.], a crop with inherently higher Ca content in its grain, is an excellent candidate for understanding genetic mechanisms associated with Ca accumulation in grain crops. Such knowledge will also contribute toward increasing Ca contents in other staple crops consumed on daily basis using plant-breeding (also known as biofortification) methods. However, developing Ca-biofortified finger millet to reach nutritional acceptability faces various challenges. These include identifying and translating the high grain Ca content to an adequately bioavailable form so as to have a positive impact on Ca malnutrition. In this review, we assess some recent advancements and challenges for enrichment of its Ca value and present possible inter-disciplinary prospects for advancing the actual impact of Ca-biofortified finger millet. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:51:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9d7b839cce474a76baff60cd48b76d86 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:51:14Z |
| publishDate | 2017-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-9d7b839cce474a76baff60cd48b76d862022-12-22T03:56:29ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2017-07-01810.3389/fpls.2017.01311281391Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and ProspectsSwati Puranik0Jason Kam1Pranav P. Sahu2Rama Yadav3Rakesh K. Srivastava4Henry Ojulong5Rattan Yadav6Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth UniversityAberystwyth, United KingdomInstitute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth UniversityAberystwyth, United KingdomInstitute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth UniversityAberystwyth, United KingdomInstitute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth UniversityAberystwyth, United KingdomInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid TropicsPatancheru, IndiaInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid TropicsNairobi, KenyaInstitute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth UniversityAberystwyth, United KingdomHumans require more than 20 mineral elements for healthy body function. Calcium (Ca), one of the essential macromineral, is required in relatively large quantities in the diet for maintaining a sound overall health. Young children, pregnant and nursing women in marginalized and poorest regions of the world, are at highest risk of Ca malnutrition. Elderly population is another group of people most commonly affected by Ca deficiency mainly in the form of osteoporosis and osteopenia. Improved dietary intake of Ca may be the most cost-effective way to meet such deficiencies. Finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.], a crop with inherently higher Ca content in its grain, is an excellent candidate for understanding genetic mechanisms associated with Ca accumulation in grain crops. Such knowledge will also contribute toward increasing Ca contents in other staple crops consumed on daily basis using plant-breeding (also known as biofortification) methods. However, developing Ca-biofortified finger millet to reach nutritional acceptability faces various challenges. These include identifying and translating the high grain Ca content to an adequately bioavailable form so as to have a positive impact on Ca malnutrition. In this review, we assess some recent advancements and challenges for enrichment of its Ca value and present possible inter-disciplinary prospects for advancing the actual impact of Ca-biofortified finger millet.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2017.01311/fullfinger milletcalciumosteoporosisbioavailabilityfood processingbiofortification |
| spellingShingle | Swati Puranik Jason Kam Pranav P. Sahu Rama Yadav Rakesh K. Srivastava Henry Ojulong Rattan Yadav Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and Prospects Frontiers in Plant Science finger millet calcium osteoporosis bioavailability food processing biofortification |
| title | Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and Prospects |
| title_full | Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and Prospects |
| title_fullStr | Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and Prospects |
| title_full_unstemmed | Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and Prospects |
| title_short | Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and Prospects |
| title_sort | harnessing finger millet to combat calcium deficiency in humans challenges and prospects |
| topic | finger millet calcium osteoporosis bioavailability food processing biofortification |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2017.01311/full |
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